


Negotiations

by caffeine-vaccine (HashtagLEH)



Series: Tactics From the Isle (And How They Carry Over Into Auradon) [2]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies), The Isle of the Lost Series - Melissa de la Cruz
Genre: Caring Uma (Disney), Gang activity, Gil is only really mentioned but I feel that that tag is important, Harry Hook Flirts, Harry Hook and Uma are Possessive of Gil, Mal & Uma Friendship (Disney), Multi, Not Canon Compliant, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Polyamorous Relationships, Polyamory, Possessive Harry Hook, Pre-Descendants (2015), Protective Uma (Disney), d1 rewrite, little bit of a trigger warning in the author's note
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2020-01-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:34:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22233367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HashtagLEH/pseuds/caffeine-vaccine
Summary: She entered Uma’s restaurant with no fanfare through the back door, but as soon as she did her arm was grabbed and she was roughly swung around to meet a familiar shiny hook pointed in her face.“Ye’re not usually so unobservant,” Harry sang at her, teasingly trailing the point of the hook under her eye.
Relationships: Evie & Jay & Mal & Carlos de Vil, Gil/Harry Hook/Uma, Harry Hook & Mal, Mal & Uma (Disney)
Series: Tactics From the Isle (And How They Carry Over Into Auradon) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1600366
Comments: 8
Kudos: 308





	Negotiations

**Author's Note:**

> Little bit of a warning: it's mentioned that Gaston tried raping Evie in the past. Nothing happened, but the effects of it are still an important part of the story. In the future I will probably write that fic, because it's how Mal and Uma's gangs ended up making nice, but here it's mentioned with no detail - just as a factor of the story. But be careful with yourselves!

Mal chewed on her bottom lip as she stared out her bedroom window and over the rest of the Isle. She was alone, her mother downstairs muttering evil plans to herself as she puttered about. She and the other three had parted ways about an hour ago, after Maleficent had explained to them her plan to have them steal the wand to remove the barrier over the Isle and take over Auradon.

Mal wanted to get off the Isle; of course she did. It was literally a wasteland with all the trash everywhere and the lack of any real housing structures, but also that the only things that grew there were noxious weeds and poison-tipped thorns. Every animal either had worms or were poisonous enough that they weren’t safe to get near, let alone eat. The little food they received from Auradon was infested with mold or maggots, and it wasn’t uncommon to see dead bodies piled off to the sides of most streets before someone threw them to the killer sharks and crocs surrounding the Isle to make room for the people still there.

But Mal didn’t want the rest of the Villains off the Isle. She wanted her and her friends and the innocent little kids that didn’t choose to be born to terrible people to get out, but people like their parents?

Mal still remembered how the Evil Queen hadn’t cared a bit when she had learned how Gaston had tried to rape her daughter. Oh, she was concerned that Evie never would’ve been able to find a prince if she’d been “sullied” by another man’s hand, but she hadn’t actually cared about the trauma that Evie might have gone through.

Seeing the Evil Queen’s reaction – or lack thereof – had been what had made her start looking at her own mother differently, had made her think about what if _she_ had been the one Gaston had gone after? Would Maleficent have cared about _her_ , or would she have cared more that someone had touched what was hers, and was therefore challenging her authority?

Mal still wasn’t totally sure of the answer to that question – or maybe she was, but she didn’t want to admit it, even to herself – but she did know that if the Villains took over Auradon, they might have food for a short season as they used the resources saved up over there already, but after that was used up they would fall right back into where they were now. Oh, it would be better, because at least there were actual _houses_ over in Auradon, and there was the sun and clean air over there, but how much of that would Maleficent destroy in her quest for ultimate Evil? Most of it, Mal was willing to bet. Her mother may be magically powerful, but she didn’t think that far ahead about the consequences of her actions. It’s what had gotten her to the Isle in the first place – she was more quick-tempered and impulsive than anyone Mal knew.

Which wasn’t to say that Maleficent _couldn’t_ make an Evil plan that would span several years. But she had yet to see the value in starting small and working her way up. When Maleficent wanted something, she wanted it _immediately_.

And so, with all of this in mind, she didn’t really see the _point_ in taking over Auradon. At least, not in the Villains doing it. They’d treated _this_ wasteland badly enough already.

But maybe Mal could take over. She was Evil, but she thought farther ahead. She was a good planner, events of last year trying to put Evie to sleep for a hundred years notwithstanding. It hadn’t been lack of planning that had made her fail, but a last-minute decision that she could use Evie as an ally. But her plan had been flawless.

And if _Mal_ took over Auradon…well, then that would mean she would have rule over the Isle, too. And she could release everyone there who didn’t deserve to be. People like Uma, who wanted what was best for her territory and the kids in it. People like Harry and Gil, who had rescued Evie from Gaston even though at the time they had been enemies. People like Dizzy, who was treated just as Cinderella had been, and by the same woman, whom people in Auradon didn’t care about because she didn’t have a prince as her ally. People like Jade and Diego and Anthony and Freddie and Ginny…the list went on.

The other three would surely agree with this plan, Mal was certain. Evie loved Dizzy like a sister, and Jade and Diego were directly related to Jay and Carlos, and while Mal had no immediate family members like that, she was protective of _all_ of the kids on the Isle. (Well, she knew that her father had a son with some other woman, but she had only ever seen him in passing and they weren’t close at all. And if she remembered right, he was only ten or eleven by now. They hadn’t ever really had the chance to get to know each other, being raised on opposite sides of the Isle. Mal hadn’t even known about him till a couple of years ago, so there hadn’t been much opportunity to really interact.) She was practically the queen of the Isle kids already, barring Uma and her territory. She was closer to regent queen status over there, which she was honestly okay with after the whole deal with Evie and Gaston and subsequent events had caused them to bury the hatchet, as it were.

Which reminded her…she couldn’t leave her territory open to the likes of Shan Yu or the Queen of Hearts, which they would surely try to do if she left.

Tuning her ear to listen downstairs again, she heard her mother doing exactly as she had when Mal had tuned out. Smirking, she opened the window and climbed out, using the rough bricks as hand- and footholds as she scaled her way down to the ground.

She made it over to Uma’s territory quickly enough, as people got out of her way when they saw her darkened, threatening expression. It hadn’t been easy, getting to a point where the people of the Isle feared her enough to leave her alone, but she was glad she’d done it in times like these when she knew she could get somewhere quickly, even without the rest of her gang behind her.

She entered Uma’s restaurant with no fanfare through the back door, but as soon as she did her arm was grabbed and she was roughly swung around to meet a familiar shiny hook pointed in her face.

“Ye’re not usually so unobservant,” Harry sang at her, teasingly trailing the point of the hook under her eye. She rolled her eyes but didn’t move, because Harry may be teasing but she didn’t fully trust that he wouldn’t accidentally poke her eye out with the deadly hook if he was startled.

“Hi, Harry,” she said blandly. “Uma around?”

Harry released her, taking the smallest of steps back, not out of respect for her space but mostly so that they could talk easier.

“Sure,” he agreed. “She’s bribing Gil inta washing the dishes tonight though, so maybe give ‘em some space fer a bit, yeah?”

Mal wrinkled her nose slightly, because Uma used the same methods of persuasion on her boys that Mal did on Evie, and she didn’t like to think about Uma like that. That was…gross.

“ _But_ ,” Harry drawled, leaning against the wall in a way that might have been flirtatious if it hadn’t been Mal that was standing in front of him. Harry flirted like he breathed though, and there was never any intention behind it.

(Except toward Uma and Gil, that is. But they were in a gang, so it was different.)

“Uma’s left me in charge while she and Gil are busy, so maybe I can pass ‘long a message?” He beamed at her.

Mal sighed. “It’s about the territories. They’re going to need to change soon.”

Harry tensed abruptly, and his eyes flashed dangerously. “I hope yer not thinkin’ of invadin’, sweetheart,” he drawled, accent growing thicker with his threat. “Cos then we’re gonna have to rethink our cozy little alliance, ya hear?”

Mal rolled her eyes, not reacting to the intimidation tactic. “No, we’re not,” she denied. “Auradon has ‘invited’ my gang to join them at Auradon Prep, and we won’t be on the Isle anymore by tomorrow afternoon. I don’t want to leave my territory open to Shan Yu or the Queen of Hearts, so I need to make a deal with Uma.”

Harry’s tense posture loosened immediately, his face becoming cheerful and teasing once more. “Well, why didn’t ye say so?” he demanded jovially. He was about to continue when Uma’s voice spoke from the other doorway, the one that led to her living quarters.

“You’re going to Auradon?” she demanded, eyes fixed on her sort-of ally. “Why would they allow _anyone_ off the Isle?”

“I guess they want to ‘reform’ us, or some shit,” Mal said, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the thought. “We’re the experimental group, to see if it’s possible. I’m not totally sure of all of the reasoning, because my mother has some plan she was more excited about so she didn’t explain all of it. But we’re leaving tomorrow before noon.”

“Why you guys?” Uma demanded. “What makes _you_ four so special?”

Mal rolled her eyes. “Jealousy doesn’t suit you, Uma,” she drawled. “It’s not important, anyway. My mother has a plan for when we go over, but I’m going to change the plan a bit more to _my_ liking. In the meantime though, I need protection over my territory, and seeing as I like you more than Shan Yu or the Queen of Hearts, and you’re less likely to stab me in the back later on, I figured you wouldn’t mind taking over in my absence.”

Uma stared disbelievingly at the purple-haired girl, while Harry stood behind Uma, waiting for direction from his leader. “Just like that,” she said. “You’re giving me your territory? What’s the catch?”

“I have a plan for Auradon,” Mal said briefly. “I’m going to be taking it over and bringing Isle Kids that don’t belong here over there. Actual Villains will still be left here. But I need the kids kept safe in the meantime, and make sure they’re prepared when it happens, because I don’t want to leave the Villains enough time to kill their kids rather than let them out.”

“So you’re giving me your territory…and then when this happens I’ll lose all of that plus the territory I have now, while you rule Auradon, and I will have done all of the dirty work.” Uma raised a single eyebrow, folding her arms across her chest. “Have I missed anything?”

“When I do rule Auradon, I’ll give you an equal ratio of land to what you have now, here on the Isle in comparison to mine,” Mal proposed. “If – and this is a very _strong_ ‘if’ – if I fail to take over Auradon, you can have my territory permanently, no questions asked.”

The smile that spread across Uma’s face was slow and victorious. “Well, you’ve got yourself a deal, princess,” she purred, shaking Mal’s hand to seal the deal. “You have yourself a good time in Auradon.”

Mal smirked back. “Believe me, I will.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love all of my little VK's. But we should see Ben soon, and I love him equally, so yay!


End file.
